I've just been trying to ride around Austria and dodge wet patches all over the track today, which is not easy when you get a bit older and the eyesight's not great!"
SRT's Darryn Binder is tipped to mimic Jack Miller's jump directly from Moto3 to MotoGP on one of the M1 seats next season, with triple MotoGP title runner-up Andrea Dovizioso – spending a year out after leaving Ducati - moving into pole position for the other ride.
Dovi's cause has been helped by the news that Italian brand WithU is rumoured to be stepping into the Petronas void as title sponsor next season.
Meanwhile, with Yamaha test rider Cal Crutchlow - who has replaced Morbidelli at Austrian rounds - moving across to fill the Vinales void for Silverstone, SRT is promoting Jake Dixon from Moto2 to ride alongside Rossi for a home MotoGP debut.
Xavi Vierge, Dixon's Moto2 team-mate, is expected to get his MotoGP chance next time at Aragon before Morbidelli returns at Misano.
But if Morbidelli instead takes over from Crutchlow at the Factory squad, there is speculation that Dovizioso, 35, could join Petronas for the closing rounds in preparation for a full 2022 campaign.
Watching the Dorna feed for qualifying at the GP today and seems its not the "smart money", its more of a done deal that Dovi to the Petronas Yamaha for the rest of the season but Italian sponsorship for next year to replace Petronas will mean they will want a better spec bike for him . Frankie to the factory squad to replace Mav and Cal gets to go back to test rider for the rest of this year.
Bigyin wrote: Sat Aug 28, 2021 11:21 pm
Watching the Dorna feed for qualifying at the GP today and seems its not the "smart money", its more of a done deal that Dovi to the Petronas Yamaha for the rest of the season but Italian sponsorship for next year to replace Petronas will mean they will want a better spec bike for him . Frankie to the factory squad to replace Mav and Cal gets to go back to test rider for the rest of this year.
Yorick wrote: Thu Oct 21, 2021 11:18 pm
I was routing for Dixon as he's a nice lad. Did amazing.
But Moto3 kid got the job.
1. The teams know how good Dixon is.
2. Binder has amazing package to bring.
3. Politics
Not having it... Dixon is a fine rider, that's about it. Binder is a fine rider with a better set of results (and maybe a better package to bring) but still, a better set of results, performances, consistency. The old saying comes to mind that you can stop a fast rider crashing, but you can't make a fast guy a world beater.
